In the late 1970s, I worked at a clothing store in Indianapolis. I waited on this very nice man who bought a suit, and when I ran his credit card, I noticed the name. As I put the receipt in the bag and handed it to him, I said, "Nice shot." He just smiled and said, "It never ceases to amaze me how often clerks say that."
I got to speak with Milan coach Marv Wood a few years before his death and I asked him about this game. He gave a little laugh, his eyes lit up and it was clear he loved that time in his life and that team. He said he knew Milan could win and told his team they had to slow it down and keep the score close. Such a nice man-RIP Coach
Among my top 10 movies;I'm 70 now. Own the DVD, have probably watched it 50-60 times. The story was not just David & Goliath but hometown America on display. Not quite 10 yrs after WW2, a Golden time for sure. Hackman SO good.
The confidence he had, coach is writing up a play, Jimmy just says I'll make it, everyone believed him. Coach scraps play, everyone clear out for Jimmy.
For it's time yes, but it's been surpassed by many films. The acting is sub-par, the writing is sub-par, and the on court action is sub-par. It's an important movie because it fathered that great movie genre, but it is far from the best sports movie.
"North Dallas Forty" -- which exposes the seamy underside of professional football -- definitely deserves a mention (Though the N.F.L. might beg to differ.).
Back to back notable basketball champions. A year later, Oscar Robertson led Crispus Attucks to the title. They were the first all-black high school in the country to win a basketball state title. Milan actually beat them in route to their own title
I am a Hoosier. Back in 1997-98 when the IHSAA ruined Indiana basketball by going to a class system, Marv Wood was living in far south Michigan just across the state line from us. A friend of mine contacted him and ask if we could come up and visit with him on suggestions on how to keep class basketball alive. Upon arrival, he had an older 8mm projector set up and his wife had popped popcorn. He sat down and started the projector with the '54 game. He would stop it every so often and tell of strategy they were working, or tell something that happened with the fans, or the other team. It was a very personal guided tour by the guy who lived it. Indiana basketball has never been the same since the one-class tournament died. Everyone wants a trophy. Boy, those were the days!!
For many years I played basketball every weekend with Maras Valainis (Jimmy Chitwood) he is actually a very good player and it was always a surreal experience to be guarding him and have him pull up and hit a jumper right in your face....just like a movie...
Maras said on the Dan Patrick Radio show that when they filmed the last shot scene, he hit the shot the first time. The director told the people playing the fans to screen like he made it no matter whether he did or not. @@electroncapture
@@nala3038 I met him, myself. About 10 yrs. ago he (Maras Vilainis) came to Antelope Valley College in Lancaster Ca. to play in an intersquad game with AVC bb team. I believe he was an acquaintance of AVCs coach. He could definitely play and held his own vs these college players.
Even years after the movie was made, my eyes Still water at the end. What Indiana basketball was, was the Best time to be a part of. I was raised on the Single Class system and it's not Near the same anymore. That opportunity to play against the Bigger High Schools and Win are long gone. My school, the Jasper Wildcats were a pretty good team in the middle 70's. They even won the championship in 1949. What Milan did though was just short of Miraculous. Now, there are 4 champions in our state. Just not the same. If I could change it back to the Single Class system,,, I would. The kids just don't know what it was like back then. They have No concept of the mysticism that surrounds the game.
Check out the 1964 Tipton Blue Devils. Small town small school #1 in state until injury took their best rebounder/second best scorer and they lost in the sectional. State final featured Lebanon against Lafayette Jefferson. Each had lost only one game - to Tipton.
They picked the right guy for the coach he's my hometown hero from here in Danville, Illinois - Gene Hackman. He was in so many great movies in so many great roles but this one might be the most important and prolific of his career. What a story that was told about this small town winning it all. Awesome!
Ray craft was my high school principle at shelbyville high school! I graduated in 1982 with his daughter sue craft! Mr craft was an old school principle Who i admired and respected! It's To bad he's not their anymore! My mother graduated from knightstown high school in 1960 were the hickory gym scenes were shot! I have always loved this movie! You can still tour the gym in knightstown to this day!
Ray Craft was my high school principal at Clinton Central High School. I graduated in 1971. Before becoming principal he was the varsity basketball coach and won a sectional title in I believe 1967. He is a well liked person to the people that know him.
I'm from Illinois, but I can remember when the IHSBBA (actually just IHSA) was a week event that I think 3/4 of the state watched. Olders like me will remember little Cobden and Collinsville winning in the early '60s. After Chicago began dominating HS BB they went to the classes. Now hardly anyone watches them unless their school is in it.
@@etiennescarbinski7890yep the Hebron Green Giants. My mom and dad were there when Hebron won the championship. I was born 2 months later. Hebron only had 98 kids in the school. My high school took 3rd place that year with a 32-4 record. We lost to runner-up Quincy 54-51 in the semifinals.
I grew up in Indiana during the one-class system. My high school even made it to the semistate finals, where we lost to a school that had 10 times our enrollment. I would have gladly traded a Class 3A championship for the romanticism of a single-class tournament.
@@mc76 I’m sure you would have. Milan would mean NOTHING. How many participation trophies do you own? It’s funny you’re proud of your schools semi state and yet you want something more just for not being “big” enough.
The rules of basketball have changed so much from when I was growing up. And not for the better. The euro step, palming the ball, the three point shot, getting the ball at half court after a timeout, the grabbing and holding. Not how Naismith intended it to be.
High School basketball in Indiana was something special for many years, unlike anything in any other state. Unfortunately, Indiana ruined it by set up multi-class basketball in 1998, it's just not the same.
Ollie was a college basketball player in real life. Best athlete on that Hoosier teM he had to dumb it down for the movie. Found ole Jimmy Chitwood in a pick up game at a YMCA. I love when he had them measure everything... Killed the nerves.
In real life, Ollie grew up in Lyons IN and was just a good player for L&M high school basketball team but never played college ball. His sister Libby was also in the movie as a cheerleaders And also cheered for L&M in real life. L&M HS, 150 students k-12, was ranked #1in the state in 1985 and featured in sports illustrated. We got beat in a close semi state game and was the closest thing indiana will ever have to another Milan.
I remember that L & M team. Jeff Oliphant and I think his name was Tony Patterson were huge stars on that team. Oliphant went on to play at IU but injuries kept him from serious playing time. The story goes that Jeff and Steve Alford used to have some epic games of horse after practice. @@swpdds
This is so cool, to see the real-life footage of this event! The movie is great and I watched it a lot as a kid but it doesn't really do the live event justice. My dad got to see this event in real life when he was a kid. What an amazing thing to see in real life!! Wow!!!
The 50th anniversary of the game it was aired on ESPN Classic. Growing up in Indiana, actually a smaller town outside of Muncie Sports, primarily basketball, was the culture. As a kid you dreamed of playing a sectional game in the Muncie Fieldhouse, play Regionals at New Castle Fieldhouse, semi state at Hinkle and the Final 4 at Market Square Arena. In 1990 the Final 4 was moved to the Hoosier Dome- the IHSAA banked on Damon Bailey and Bedford North Lawrence making it to the Final 4 for the 4th straight year, they did and over 40,000 came to watch them win the state championship vs Elkhart. Sadly, basketball changed in Indiana. Class basketball was introduced in the 1998 season. While it created opportunities for more schools to have success, the tournament has lost a bit of its luster. Never will a team have a chance "to win one for all the small teams that never made it"
@@765southside6I remember that. I'm from Illinois and I was pulling for Damon Bailey and the Stars to win. I was surprised as heck Sunday morning when the St Louis Post Dispatch had the story and I saw 40,000 people had attended.
Yes, it was the players who actually played the game and they accomplished more than any of them would have ever dreamed, but it was the coach, Norman Dale, who got those individual players to play as a unified TEAM. That was the key to their success and the key to them winning the state championship. It was the TEAM, players AND coaches, who won the trophy
@Doug Nading As the old saying goes "You can do and accimplish more as a team than you can ever do alone." Thanks for being a coach and teaching the lessons of teamwork.
The Milan victory has been impossible to replicate for years because Indiana no longer has a single-division tournament. A few years after the change, a player asked for their opinion said that they would rather win a county title in the one-division format than a state championship in the multi-division format.
And you will never see it happen again, since Indiana ,for some insane reason, switched to "class" basketball and all the limitations that brings, destroying any chances of another Milan.
Hari Seldon almost every state in the country has adopted that style of classifications- it makes it so small schools have a chance to compete with each other instead of being blown out by much bigger schools
I agree with you Mr. Seldon. If the IHSAA let the people of Indiana vote on it, Class basketball would've been defeated hands down. Instead, they let Each Athletic Director of each High School vote and THAT'S how this tragedy came to be. When a smaller school wins the championship in their class, that's all they have won. They did not win the State title overall. They are Not true State champions over all the schools. What those Athletic directors did was Rob the young adults that play this game, of their Pride and dedication of doing something very extraordinary. No no more though. When you win it now,,it is Just in your Class,,,Not the whole Kit and Kabootle.
I coach high school basketball in the place that consistently turns out the best athletes in *all sports* & making things "class" or "divisions" out here made perfectly good sense... We need a balanced field of play and in the modern game with a shot clock, 3 point line, non physical play... WE WILL NEVER see that happen again.
Hoosiers is a great movie, however, one can never, ever beat the " real deal. " Like other Hoosiers I watch the movie " Hoosiers " especially around Tourney Time but I personally prefer watching the actual Milan - Muncie Central game on youtube. By the way my High School was a victim of the consolidation of 1964.
A classic slice of American folklore and legend. These guys were ballers in every since of the word. It truly was David vs. Goliath. So Chitwood's real name was Plump? Wow! Hollywood's Creative License strikes again. LOL. Long live Milan, IN. Long live Indiana basketball! And I'm from Kentucky, just so you know, and that last part of 'Long live' was very difficult for me to say. Kentucky is round ball Central come the fall of the year. It's the home of one of the greatest college basketball coaches who ever lived in Adolf Rupp. Rupp built men and then he made those men legends. The rest is history.
I have been watching basketball all my life. Played a bunch as well. The one thing that stands out to me about basketball from the 1970's when I started playing until today is the way the players act. Back then a guy made a good shot or a great move he might smile some or point to a teammate and say good pass but that was about it. Now days ? they puff out their chest, scream and holler, point at the fans and scream and holler or otherwise just try and be seen. It's all about ego and showboating. Make no mistake they are some incredible players but all in all I just wish it would go back to if you made a shot turn around and go play defense without bringing attention to yourself. And all the politics? complete turn off for me. just shut up and play ball. no one cares what you think or who you voted for. watch West or, Dr.J, Cowens, Hondo, Baylor, Bird , McHale, Chirf Stockton , Ma;on, Wilt or the Celtics. they just played ball. they didn't celebrate after a dunk..
Sadly in 1997 they ruined Hoosier Hysteria forever by going to a class system so this kind of Hoosiers story is no longer possible...but it is in Kentucky!
Just curious to ask? But were there more than eight players on the actual team? I've always loved the movie, and story of that event. My father GRHS, grew up in small town Illinois, near the Wabash river, across from Indiana. Hoosiers was a great personal favorite movie and story of his. Thanks.🤗✌️🤗✌️🤗✌️🇺🇸🇺🇸💯
That whole region is basketball crazy, or it used to be when I was at SIU in Carbondale Illinois Larry Bird from Indiana State came over to play against our college and it was headline news.
kissmyaass1 Well I’m from Oklahoma where people are baseball and football crazy and I saw the same things going on with younger kids but it was basketball and baseball because SIU went to the playoffs in college in baseball and we were great. I wasn’t good enough to make the team and I was a good player, but not with them. lol
Three of the 10 winningest high school basketball teams in the country are within just miles of Carbondale and SIU. Centralia, Pinckneyville, and Mt Vernon. All of these schools have won over 2000 games and multiple state championships.
The Waterloo Wonders ,Little Generals, plated in a class system in Ohio so it's not the same. But they were probably the best team in the state and the nation in 1935. They posted a record of 63-3!
@Ryan Harrington Can't we leave Shelvin * out of this * ? -- Hasn't he been through ENOUGH???!!!* * * Just kidding. * (I don't even know who Shelvin Mack is.). I can be very silly (Especially when I'm awake**.). ** I'm actually a very serious sleeper.
Next to " Rudy " Hoosiers was the Greatest Sports Movie ever made IMHO, Both had a Player basically Nobody had ever Heard of and yet on the Final Play of their respected Game Made History and are Remembered to this Day. While it is True Notre Dame is Much more well known than Milan Highschool In the History of Notre Dame Football until that game NO PLAYER Had ever been carried off the Field By His teammates in Triumph. And To this Day Nobody has been carried off since.
The little one red light town, in Florida that I grew up in was about the size of Hickory as depicted in movie. But they went to the state finals many consecutive times, and won in 1963. I was 8 years old then, and I remember that night, the town was deserted, just about everyone was gone to the game. On that night, a black man came walking up and knocked on our door. He reported that he saw a light flashing in the sky, and then heard a crashing sound in the woods. I went with my dad, and this man to the spot where he reported the noise, and we discovered a single engine plane had crashed killing both occupants. I remember someone shining a flash light in the wreckage, and seeing the decapitated body of the man. I could not sleep alone for about a week. Scared the crap our of me.
Not sure about Indiana but here in NJ the future D1 players all go to Prep/Catholic schools so public’s especially small public schools had no shot. From 1989-2022 we had a tournament of champions where the 4 public group and 2 prep/parochial champs would play. A total of 4 public’s won it all(3 in the first 6 years) From 2001 till the end of it a prep/catholic school won it. Overall Bobby Hurley Sr powerhouse St Anthony’s prep out of Jersey City won 13 total. The TOC ended after 2022
escobar mohammed Jimmy Chitwood is just a fictional name of a player, not a real name!!! Bobby Plump was the person that made the winning shot and the character of Jimmy Chitwood was modeled after him!!!
escobar mohammed The name “ Jimmy Chitwood “ is just a name that was used in the book and the movie called “ Hoosiers!!!” A fake name, not a real name!!! Not a real person!!! You apparently don’t have the ability or the reasoning power too understand the difference between a real person, like Bobby Plump who the character was based on, and a made up fictional name!!!
it more so is a Midwest thing, because Illinois is full of David and goliath stories as well back in those days....it was just small farm towns meeting Chicago schools...i grew up rural illinois, and watched Hoosiers more times than I can count, and people in Illinois resonate well with it. when I was in high school I got to be apart of 3 basketball state tournaments and 2 were titles...and the atmosphere was centered around the story of a small northern school winning the championship game back in the 50s or so...maybe it was the first televised in the state as well...anyway...town was called Hebron or something...they compared them to the real life Hoosiers as well, just in a sense that everyone was playing basketball in the Midwest...indiana certainly gets th e noterioty but nonetheless it was just as big in other states like Illinois.
What sucks now is that it could never happen again. Class basketball has ruined the tournament forever. You will never see David vs Goliath ever again. David vs David and Goliath vs Goliath, thats how its played now. In my opinion, class basketball has made the tournament far less interesting. Its not even televised anymore. People dont care about it anymore because you never see the huge underdog knock off the heavy favorite. A small school wins a title every year. They beat a bunch of other small schools to get it and no one cares. Thats why more people know who won the Indiana state basketball tournament in 1954 than in 2018.
